Method of and apparatus for feeding spiral articles



G. e. SEAMAN 3,305,131

S FOR FEEDING SPIRAL ARTICLES Feb. 21, 1967 METHOD OF AND APPARATU Filed May 6, 1965 INVENTOQ QQSEAMAN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,305,131 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SPIRAL ARTICLES Gary G. Seaman, Omaha, Nebr., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Filed May 6, 1965, Ser. No. 453,603 5 Claims. (Cl. 221-278) This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for feeding spiral articles and, more particularly, to a method of and apparatus for separating and feeding a single spiral article from a pair of entangled spiral articles. It is an object of this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus of such character.

In assembling many items of manufacture it is often necessary to include therein a spiral article, such as a spring, or a spring-like element. The body portion of such articles are defined, at least in part, by spaced convolutions of a single wire-like element generally following a spiral path about a normally rectilinear axis.

When it is desired to assemble such articles in an item of manufacture by use of an automated machine, it is often necessary to sequentially feed a single spiral article from a supply thereof to the point at which the article is to be assembled. The feeding of such an article from a supply thereof is generally a difficult task in that adjacent spiral articles have a tendency to become entangled. This entanglement results from forces which cause the convolutions of the wire-like element of one article to be received in the spaces between convolutions of the wire-like element of an adjacent article. When such entangling occurs, two, three or more of the spiral articles may be fed to the point of assembly when it is desired that only a single article be fed thereto.

The feeding of more than a single spiral article to the assembly point obviously can cause many difficulties with which a machine cannot readily cope. It is therefore desirable in assembling items of manufacture which contain a spiral article, to insure that a single spiral article is delivered to the assembly station during each cycle of the machine. This invention is well suited to accomplish such a desirable result.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of and apparatus for disengaging a pair of spiral articles which are entangled in an end-to-end relationship without gripping and rotating the article to be untangled by mechanical means.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a method of and apparatus for disengaging one of a pair of spiral articles which are entangled, which method and apparatus are simple and reliable in operation and economical to utilize.

In accordance with the invention, a single spiral article is fed from a pair of entangled spiral articles by securing one of the articles against movement at a point removed from the area of entanglement of the articles. Thereafter, the unsecured article is rotated and linearly advanced away from the area of entanglement of the articles by tangentially directing a stream of gas against the unsecured article to disengage it from the secured article, whereby the unsecured article is freed for feeding.-

More particularly, when it is desired to feed a foremost ,spiral article from a pair of such articles entangled in an end-to-end relationship, both of the articles are fed into a close confining passageway. The trailing article is securely gripped at a point which is both removed from the common area of entanglement of the pair of articles and located such that at least the article to be fed is received within the close confining passageway. Thereafter, a gas stream is directed into the passageway in such a direction as both to intercept tangentially the wire-like convolutions of the article to be fed and to cause rotative movement and linear advancement thereof in a direction away from the secured article. The article to be fed is thereby disengaged from the secured article and freed for feeding from the passageway.

This invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, showing the apparatus of this invention for effecting the feeding of spiral articles singly and successively from a supply of such articles;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a single spiral article;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a pair of spiral articles entangled in an end-to-end relationship;

FIG. 4 is a plan view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 to show in greater detail a portion of the feed track associated with the apparatus of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing control circuitry associated with the apparatus of this invention;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view, partly in cross-section, showing the apparatus of this invention in an advanced operational state; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view, taken along line 77 of FIG. 6, showing in greater detail the passageway through which the spiral articles pass when fed out of the apparatus of this invention.

Considering the drawings now in greater detail, FIG. 1 depicts the feeding apparatus 20 of this invention at the beginning of a cycle of operation to disentangle and feed a foremost spiral article 10 [from an immediate-1y adjacent spiral article 10a.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the article 10 has both a central spiral body portion 11, and an integral project'- ing portion 12, received within and extending along the axis of the body portion. The body portion 11 is defined by spaced convolutions 13 of a wire-like element following a spiral path about the axially extending and integral wire portion 12. A doubled back portion 14 interconnects the body portion 11 with the projecting portion 12. It is to be understood, of course, that the principles of this invention are applicable to the feeding of spring-like articles with or without a central core member.

With specific reference to FIG. 3, a pair of spiral articles 10 and 10:: are shown entangled in an end-to-end relationship. Such entanglement occurs when some of the convolutions 13 of the foremost article 10 become interleaved with the spaces between the convolutions 13a of the adjacent article 10a. Such entanglement can occur quite readily through relative movement of the articles under the forces utilized in feeding the articles in end-toend relationship from a supply station toan assembly station.

With reference again to FIG. 1, the (feeding apparatus 20 of this invention generally defines one station in a large automated machine wherein the spiral articles are assembled into an item of manufacture. The apparatus 20 is mounted by a bracket 21 above a fixed tooling plate 22 which supports the apparatus utilized at each work station in the automated machine.

A rotatable, artitcle advancing table 23 is received between the apparatus 20 and the fixed tooling plate 22. During each cycle of operation of the machine, the table 23 is indexed by suitable drive mechanism (not shown) to present a cylindrical opening 24 through the table to a position in axial alignment with a container-like passageway 26 of the feeding apparatus 20'.

Spiral articles 10 are fed to the container-like passageway 26 by means of a vibratory feeder 27. The feeder 27 properly orients and delivers the articles 10 in succession to a first closed feed tube '28. Specifically, the articles are fed in end-to-end relationship to and through the passageway, with the doubled back portion 14 of each article constituting the leading end. The closed feed tube 28 terminates at a holding member 29 which is in turn suitably mounted'above the apparatus 20 by a support member 31. A second feed tube designated generally by the reference numeral 32 connects the end of the first feed tube 28, adjacent the holding member 29, to the container-like passageway 26 of the feeding apparatus 20. As best seen in FIG. 4, the second feed tube 32 consists of four rods 3333 spaced in quadrature about the central axis of the passageway 26. The arrangement of the rods 33 in such a manner provides an opening 34 between each pair of rods to the atmosphere, the purpose of which will be explained in greater detail hereinbelow.

At the beginning of the cycle of operation of. the feeding apparatus 20, spiral articles are advanced into the container-like passageway 26 until a foremost one of the articles comes into engagement with a slidable, lower retractable stop member 36, which initially is in an advanced position to project into the passageway. For the sake of clarity, only the foremost article 10 and the next to foremost article 10a are .shown in FIG. 1. In the actual operation of the feeding apparatus, it is to be understood that a series of spiral articles in end-to-end relationship would be contained within the feed tubes 32 and 28.

The sliding movement of the lower stop member 36 is controlled by a vertically movable, multicam surfaced, plunger 37. The plunger is reciprocated within a bore 38 of the feeding apparatus and within an opening 41 in the fixed tooling plate 22 through the action of a rotating cam 39. Cam 39 is operated by assocaite-d apparatus (not shown) to raise and lower the plunger 37 once each time the article advancing table 23 presents a cylindrical opening 24 thereof below the container-like passageway 26. The plunger 37 is biased into engagement with the rotating cam 39 by the action of a spring 42 which abuts at one end against the bottom of the tooling plate 22 and at the other end against a stop member 43 secured to the lower portion of the plunger.

The multi-carn surfaced plunger 37 controls a complete cycle of operation of the feeding apparatus 20 each time it is raised and lowered by a full rotation of the cam 39. As shown in FIG. 1, the plunger 37, at the start of its cycle of operation, is in its lowermost position. In this position, a cylindrical opening 44 in the lower stop member 36 allows a spring 46 to bias the lower stop member along a way 47 to an advanced position whereat one portion of the opening 44 comes into contact with a neckeddown portion 48 of the plunger. When the lower stop member 36 is in its advanced position, a portion 36' thereof projects into the lower portion of the passageway 26 to provide a constriction to prevent passage of a spiral article 10 therepast.

As the plunger 37 is raised from its lowermost position 4 by the operation of the cam 39, a cam surface 51 of the plunger moves beyond a cylindrical opening 52 in a slidable upper stop member 53 such that one portion of the opening 52 comes into engagement with an inclined cam surface 54 on the plunger. Further upward movement of the plunger 37 allows a spring 56' to bias the upper stop member 53 and effects its movement to the right, as viewed in the drawing, along a way 57. The movement of stop member 53 is terminated in an advanced position when the one portion of the opening 52 in the stop member comes into engagement with the necked-down portion 48 of the plunger 37.

Simultaneously with the advance of the upper stop member 53, the cam surface 51 of the upwardly moving plunger 37 comes into operative contact with a first microswitch 58. As best seen in FIG. 5, engagement of the microswitch 58 completes a power circuit to a solenoidoperated valve 59. This valve, when opened, allows air (or any other suitable gas) to pass therethrough from an air supply 61 to actuate an air-operated cylinder 62. As depicted in FIG. 1, when the air cylinder 62 is operated, a piston 63 thereof is advanced against the bias of a spring 64. Thus, advancement of the piston 63 moves a projecting portion 66 thereof into the passageway 26 in direct line with and on a side opposite the upper stop member 53. As best seen in FIG. 6, the stop members 53 and 66 are simultaneously advanced into the passage way 26 to engage and securely grip the next to foremost article 10a.

Further upward movement of the plunger 37, from the point at which the stop member 53 and the projecting por tion 66 are actuated to an advanced position to securely grip the article 10a at a point removed from a possible area of entanglement of the articles 10 and 10a, causes retraction of the lower stop member 36 from its advanced position. This retraction of the stop member 36 from a position whereat it projects into the container-like pas .sageway 26 is effected by the engagement of a portion of the opening 44 in the stop member 36 with a lower cam surface 67 of the plunger 37. Retraction of the stop member 36 leaves the lowermost spiral article .10' free to fall through the passageway 26 and into the opening 24 of the article advancing table 23 if it is not entangled with the article 10a. However, if the two articles are entangled, article 10 is held in a depending relationship from article 10a within the confining passageway 26.

In accordance with the principles of this invention, whenever two spiral articles are entangled when the lower stop member .36 is retracted from its advanced position, :a unique mechanism is operated in response to further upward movement of the plunger 37 to disentangle the articles. More specifically, when the upwardly moving plunger 37 comes into contact with a second microsw-itch 68, as best seen in FIG. 5, a power circuit is completed to open a sec-0nd solenoid-operated valve 69. This valve when opened allows air to pass from the air supply 61, through the valve :69, to an air line 71 (FIGS. 1 and 5). As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 6, air line 71 is connected to the passageway 26 of the feeding apparatus 20 by way of a manifold chamber 72 and air ports 73-73.

As shown in greater detail in FIGS. 6 and 7, the air passing through the ports 73 enters the passageway 26 in a downwardly direction displaced from the axis thereof. The air, thus entering, tangentially intercepts some of the wire-like convolutions of the foremost article 10, and causes the latter to rotate and linearly advance itself away from the article 10a previously entangled therewith. The foremost spiral article 10 is thus freed for feeding past the retracted stop member 36 and through the passageway 26 to an aligned opening 24 in the article advancing table 23. It should be noted that the cam 39 is constructed in such a manner that plunger 37 is held in operative contact with the second microswitch 68 for a period of time sufficient to allow an entangled article to be disentangled from an adjacent article 10a, regardless of the degree of entanglement of the two articles.

A portion of the air directed into the container like passageway 26 exits from the bottom thereof and is effective in aiding the advancement of a disengaged article to the article feeding table 23. However, another portion of the air exits from the passageway 26 through the top thereof and is dissipated in the atmosphere through the openings 34 defined between adjacent rod 33 of the second feed tube 32. If the air leaving the top of the passageway 26 were not dissipated in such a manner, it would tend to augment the entanglement of the articles held within the feed tubes 28 and 32.

After the article 10 has been freed to pass through the passageway 26, either because of the lower stop member 36 being retracted, or because of the air stream, the plunger 37 is returned from its uppermost position to its lowermost position by the coaction of the spring 42 associated with the plunger and a gradually descending cam surface on the rotating cam 39. As the plunger descends, first, the surface 51 thereof is disengaged from the second micros'witch 68, whereby the air supply to the passageway 26 is terminated; second, the plunger cam surface 67 moves out of contact with the opening 44 in the lowermost stop member 36, whereby the lower stop member returns to its fully advanced position; and third, the plunger cam surface 51 initially moves out of engagement with the first microswitch '58 to close air valve 59, thereby effecting the retraction of stop member 66, and subsequently moves into engagement With the opening 52 of the upper stop member 53, whereby the latter becomes fully retracted. With the plunger in this position, the next succeeding foremost article 10 is freed to descend into the passageway 26 until it engages the lower stop member 36.

During the descent of the plunger 37, the article feeding table 23 is indexed to present an empty opening 24 below the container 26. Thus, when the plunger 37 reaches its lowermost position, the whole apparatus has returned to its initial state and the next cycle of operation thereof may be initiated again by rotation of cam 39.

There has been disclosed herein a method of and apparatus for feeding a single spiral article from a pair of entangled spiral articles. The method and apparatus disclosed insure that a single spiral article is delivered to a point of assembly in an automated machine during each cycle of operation of the machine. Further, the method and apparatus are simple and reliable in operation and economical to utilize.

The basic concept underlying the invention as described above is one which will have many apparent modifications. It is intended that the invention be interpreted as including all the modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for feeding a foremost spiral article from a supply of such articles stacked in an end-to-end relationship with some of the articles being entangled, said apparatus comprising:

a passageway open at both ends for receiving the spiral articles in a close, confining relationship;

means for advancing at least the foremost and next to foremost articles from the supply thereof into said passageway;

means actuatable to arrest the advance of the foremost article with the foremost and next to foremost articles positioned within said passageway;

means actuatable to grip the next to foremost article in an area removed from the area of possible entanglement of the articles when the foremost article is in its arrested position;

sequentially operable means for first, actuating said arresting means to terminate the advance of the foremost article; second, actuating said gripping means to grip the next to foremost article; and third,

6 dea'ctuating said arresting means to allow feeding of the foremost article from said passageway when such article is disentangled with the next to foremost article; and

means for supplying a gas stream within said passageway and directed tangentially against an arrested foremost article and, when said arresting means is deactuated and said gripping means is actuated, to cause rotative movement and linear advancement of the foremost article in a direction away from the next to foremost article in the event the two were entangled, whereby the foremost article is disengaged from the next to foremost article and fed from said passageway.

2. Apparatus for feeding a foremost spiral article from a supply of such articles stacked in an end-to-end relationship with some of the articles being entangled, said apparatus comprising:

a passageway open at both ends for encircling the spiral articles in a close, confining relationship;

means for advancing at least the foremost and next to foremost articles from the supply thereof into said passageway; stop means actuatable to arrest the advance of the foremost article with the foremost and the next to foremost articles positioned within said container;

means actuatable to grip the next to foremost article in an area removed from the area of possible en'- tanglernent of the articles when the foremost article is in its arrested position;

actuatable means for supplying a gas stream within said passageway and directed tangentially against an arrested foremost article to cause rotative movement and linear advancement of the foremost article in a direction away from the next to foremost article in the event the two were entangled; and

control means for first, holding said arresting means in an actuated position to terminate advancement of the foremost article; second, actuating said gripping means to grip the next to foremost article; third, deactuating said arresting means to allow feeding of the foremost article from said passageway if such article is disentangled with the next to foremost article; fourth, actuating said gas supplying means to cause feeding of the foremost article from said pasageway if such article is entangled with the next to foremost article; fifth, actuating said arresting means; and sixth, deactuating said gripping means to release the next to foremost article whereby the next to foremost article advances to engage said actuated arresting means and thereby :becomes the foremost article for the next cycle of operation of said apparatus.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means for advancing at least the foremost and next to foremost articles comprises a feed tube which both confines the articles fed to said passageway and allows escapement of gas therethrough when the gas is supplied to said passageway.

4. A method of disengaging a single spiral article from a pair of entangled spiral articles which comprises the steps of:

securing one of the articles against movement at a point removed from the area of entanglement of the articles; and

rotating and linearly advancing the other, unsecured article away from the area of entanglement of the articles by tangentially directing a stream of gas thereagainst to disengage it from the secured article, whereby the unsecured article is freed for feeding.

5. A method of feeding a foremost spiral article from a supply of such articles stacked in an end-to-end relationship, with some of the articles being entangled, which method comprises the steps of:

feeding at least the foremost and next to foremost articles from the supply thereof into a passageway which encircles and confines the articles;

securing the next to foremost article against movement at a point removed from the area of possible entanglement of the articles such that the foremost article is suspended within said passageway when entangled with the next to foremost article; and

rotating and linearly advancing the entangled article .away from the secured article by directing a gas stream into said passageway tangentially against the foremost article to disengage it from the secured article, whereby the foremost article is freed for feeding from said container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Chadderton et al. 221-278 X Harwood 221-278 X Bosch 193-43 Simer 198-33 Focht 29-211 Hollopetre 221-278 X Goran 221-278 X Seaman 29-2405 FOREIGN PATENTS 1/ 1940 Germany. 15 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR FEEDING A FOREMOST SPIRAL ARTICLE FROM A SUPPLY OF SUCH ARTICLES STACKED IN AN END-TO-END RELATIONSHIP WITH SOME OF THE ARTICLES BEING ENTANGLED, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: A PASSAGEWAY OPEN AT BOTH ENDS FOR RECEIVING THE SPIRAL ARTICLES IN A CLOSE, CONFINING RELATIONSHIP; MEANS FOR ADVANCING AT LEAST THE FOREMOST AND NEXT TO FOREMOST ARTICLES FROM THE SUPPLY THEREOF INTO SAID PASSAGEWAY; MEANS ACTUATABLE TO ARREST THE ADVANCE OF THE FOREMOST ARTICLE WITH THE FOREMOST AND NEXT TO FOREMOST ARTICLES POSITIONED WITHIN SAID PASSAGEWAY; MEANS ACTUATABLE TO GRIP THE NEXT TO FOREMOST ARTICLE IN AN AREA REMOVED FROM THE AREA OF POSSIBLE ENTANGLEMENT OF THE ARTICLES WHEN THE FOREMOST ARTICLE IS IN ITS ARRESTED POSITION; 